New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday joined the growing chorus of Republicans critical of post-election comments made by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

“I always hate this kind of scapegoating after elections,” Christie said Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program. “I mean, when you lose, you lost.”

The morning show hosts had been discussing Romney’s comments on a post-election conference call with donors in which he said the president gave “extraordinary financial gifts from the government” to his base and worked “very aggressively” to get out the vote.

He was asked to explain what was wrong with the former candidate’s comments. “You can’t expect to be a leader of all the people and be divisive,” he said. “You have to talk about themes, policies that unite people. And play to their aspirations and their goals and their hopes for their family and their neighbors.”

Christie, a top surrogate and one of the first governors to endorse Romney, had taken flack for his embrace of President Barack Obama in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, which leveled parts of several Jersey Shore towns, killed at least 33 in New Jersey and caused untold billions in damages. An Associated Press exit poll showed 42% of voters said Obama’s response to Sandy was an “important factor” in their vote.

At the same time, Christie highlighted that Republicans gained governor seats while losing in other contests.

“I don’t think this is a core philosophical examination we have to go through,” he said. “Now what we need to do as leaders of our party is pivot and get back to our jobs. And if we do our jobs well, people will put us back in our jobs.”

On the pain of Romney’s loss, Christie said: “I’m sure it stings terribly. … He’s a good man, and he will find his level. And I think it’s still a little raw.”